Well, my mom says it is all because of her, that she spoke to me English when I was a baby. Of course, that doesn't explain why I didn't mumble a word of it until I was 13. What really happened is this.
My uncle (who loves Sting) lent me a lyrics book. Of course, I couldn't understand a word, so I grabbed a gigantic dictionary and looked up word by word. All I learnt from this was a bunch of scattered words, but I needed to put them in some kind of order. I learnt to build up phrases by watching TV and singing songs, and why not, asking my mom. Soon enough I was talking to myself (say, the walls) and whenever I got stuck in an idea, I'd run to the kitchen and ask my mom.
Half a year later, I was introduced to an American man (moreover a boy) and from then on, to other American natives. My problems with lexis and grammar were dealt off just enough to make myself legible (yes, that's what I said), but a problem still remained, the pronounciation. One day, one of my native friends told me something like “Yo, gal, yah sound so tight. Yah gotta rap Eminem ta get yah tongue losen”. When I managed to decode the message, I thought “there's no way in the world I can do that” but anyway I had tried some of everything, so why not try this too! It took me two whole weeks of daily practice to rap the first part of the song without faltering or going airless- blue. But after that stage was completed, it all became easier. By age 14, my ghetto accent was as good as a native's one.
One day, my mom decided I should go in for an examination. So I started studying formal English. It was nice, but there were zillions of rules for things I already knew. I learnt them anyway. I studied there for 4 months.
At the beginning of 2006, I decided I wanted to be an English translator, so my mom insisted (again) that I should go in for an examination. I was 17. I took up the studies where I had left them, in the First Certificate level. That was in March. I worked really hard and did several extra hours. One day, I realized that I had to depure my low barrio accent. You'll see, Cambridge examinations and Eminem don't go together.
In October, I had to decide which examinantion to take. I went for the CAE examination. In January 2007 I was notified of my grade: a huge and proud B.
I'm in college now, and looking at my Daniel Jones Pronounciation Dictionary. My way up the hill has been hard, and it still is, because I'm not in the top yet. But I learnt that this path can only be walked if you are willing to walk it. No one can do it for you. So take every little chance for learning you get, you never know where it will lead you.